Apparatus for chucking a cartridge having a position restricting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A cartridge chucking apparatus capable of stably and correctly restricting the position of a cartridge with an improved reliability and precision. A cartridge is provided with a circle hole and an elongated hole as reference holes for restricting an in-plane position of the cartridge. The cartridge chucking apparatus has: a loading chassis having projections for holding the cartridge and restricting the position in the height direction and support shafts for supporting the loading chassis while it is raised or lowered; a base chassis having reference planes for squeezing the cartridge with the projections at a recording/reproducing position of the loading chassis to restrict the position in the height direction and positioning pins formed on the reference planes for being inserted into the reference holes to restrict an in-plane position of the cartridge; and elastic members for energizing the loading chassis so that first the positioning pin is inserted into the circle hole of the cartridge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a chucking apparatus and method for acartridge, and more particularly to a chucking apparatus and method forrestricting a position of a cartridge accommodating a storage medium andloaded in a recording/reproducing apparatus at a recording/reproducingposition thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is important that a cartridge accommodating a storage medium such asan optical disk and a magnetic disk should be loaded always stably in arecording/reproducing apparatus at a predetermined recording/reproducingposition, in order to record/reproduce data in/from the storage medium.If a position restriction (chucking) error such as a cartridge float anda cartridge shift occurs at the predetermined recording/reproducingposition, it is impossible to correctly record/reproduce data. In orderto avoid this, a recording/reproducing apparatus is equipped with acartridge chucking apparatus for loading/unloading. the cartridge at apredetermined recording/reproducing position. A conventional cartridgechucking apparatus is mounted so that when a cartridge is inserted intothe recording/reproducing apparatus, the chucking apparatus holds it,and moves it to a predetermined recording/reproducing position whereatthe position in the back/front, right/left and up/down directions isrestricted. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional cartridgechucking apparatus adapted to an MD recording/reproducing apparatus.FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of thecartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 10 as viewed along an arrow Fdirection, FIG. 11A shows the state that a cartridge is inserted, andFIG. 11B shows the state that the cartridge is fixed at a predeterminedrecording/reproducing position.

As shown in FIG. 10, the conventional cartridge chucking apparatusadapted to an MD recording/reproducing apparatus is mounted in a mainframe (not shown) of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus andconstituted of a loading chassis 80, a base chassis 90 and elasticmembers 3 a and 3 b for energizing both the base chassis 90 and loadingchassis 80 so as to make them engage with each other. The loadingchassis 80 holds a cartridge 1 inserted into an inlet of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus and loads it at, or unloads it from, apredetermined recording/reproducing position. The base chassis 90restricts (chucks) the position of the cartridge 1 in the front/back,right/left and up/down directions as viewed in FIG. 10, at a loadingposition to which the loading chassis 80 was moved.

The cartridge 1 accommodates a storage medium (disk) and has tworeference holes 2 side by side on the right side as viewed in FIG. 10.These reference holes 2 are formed on the bottom side of the cartridgeas concaves with bottoms. The hole 2 a is a circle hole, and the hole 2b is an elongated hole with arc sides.

The loading chassis 80 is mounted in a main frame (not shown) of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus as described above and has supportshafts 84 a and 84 b extending from opposite sides. A lift (not shown)for raising/lowering the loading chassis 80 in the main frame is coupledto the support shafts 84 a and 84 b. As the loading chassis 80 is raisedin the main frame, it takes a position corresponding to the inlet (notshown) into which the cartridge 1 is inserted. The loading chassis 80 isprovided with spring hooks 86 a and 86 b projecting from the left sideand rear side of the loading chassis 80.

The base chassis 90 is fixed to the bottom of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus and positioned under the loading chassis80 spaced by a predetermined distance therefrom. The base chassis 90made of a thin plate has opposite side walls 91 a and 91 b generallybent at a right angle. The side walls 91 a and 91 b have guides 94 a and94 b formed at generally the center portions thereof, the guides makingthe support shafts 84 a and 84 b of the loading chassis 80 be guided andfitted therein. Similar to the loading chassis 80, the base chassis 90has spring hooks 96 and 96 b projecting from the left side and rear sideof the base chassis 90. On the surface of the base chassis 90, projectedleft reference planes 92 a and 92 d and projected right reference planes92 b and 92 c are formed. Of these, the projected right reference planes92 b and 92 c have narrow positioning pins 98 c and 98 b extendingupward from the upper surfaces of the planes 92 b and 92 c. The leftreference planes 92 a and 92 d have the same height as (is flush with)the right reference planes 92 b and 92 c.

The spring hooks 86 a and 86 b of the loading chassis 80 and the springhooks 96 a and 96 b of the base chassis 90 are coupled together by theelastic members 3 a and 3 b and are energized by the elastic members 3 aand 3 b. Therefore, the elastic members 3 a and 3 b always energize theloading chassis 80 down to the base chassis 90.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B, the operation of theconventional cartridge chucking apparatus constructed as above will bedescribed. As shown in FIG. 11A, the cartridge 1 is inserted into theinlet of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus and accommodated in theloading chassis 80. At this time, the loading chassis 90 is at theraised position, with their support shafts 84 being held by the lift(not shown). As the cartridge 1 is inserted into the loading chassis 80,this insertion state is detected with a detector (not shown) and thelift is driven to lower the loading chassis 80. The loading chassis 80is lowered while being maintained horizontally, because the supportshafts 84 are held by the lift at the center of the loading chassis 80which is energized by the elastic members 3 a and 3 b at opposite endsthereof.

As the loading chassis 80 is lowered horizontally by the lift, as shownin FIG. 11B the positioning pins 98 c and 98 b of the base chassis 90are inserted into the reference holes 2, i.e., circle hole 2 a andelongated hole 2 b of the cartridge 1, by the force of the elasticmembers 3 so that the position in the front/back, right/left and up/downdirections can be restricted.

As described above, with the conventional cartridge chucking apparatus,the positioning pins 98 c and 98 b are correctly inserted into thereference holes, i.e., circle hole 2 a and elongated hole 2 b, to fixthe cartridge 1, while the loading chassis 80 holding the cartridge 1 ismaintained horizontal by the force of the elastic members 3.

With the conventional cartridge chucking apparatus, however, if thecartridge 1 inserted into the loading chassis 80 and temporarily alignedin position shifts in the loading chassis 80 (shift in front/back andright/left directions, rotation and the like) by external shocks such asvibrations, the positioning pins 98 c and 98 b cannot be inserted intothe reference holes 2 even the force of the elastic members 3 isapplied.

In order to solve this problem, techniques have been developed whichutilize the principle of lever to allow the cartridge 1 to be fitted inwith a relatively small force. Such techniques are described, forexample, in JP-A-HEI-4-319370.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a cartridge chucking apparatusutilizing the principle of lever and adapted to a conventional cartridgerecording/reproducing apparatus. FIGS. 13A to 13C are diagramsillustrating the operation of the cartridge chucking apparatus shown inFIG. 12 as viewed along an arrow G direction. FIG. 13A shows the statethat a cartridge is inserted, FIG. 13B shows the state that thecartridge is lowered, and FIG. 13C shows the state that the position ofthe cartridge is restricted and the cartridge is set at a predeterminedrecording/reproducing position.

As shown in FIG. 12, the conventional cartridge chucking apparatusadapted to a cartridge recording/reproducing apparatus is mounted in amain frame (not shown) of the cartridge recording/reproducing apparatusand constituted of a loading chassis 110, a base chassis 120 and elasticmembers 3 a and 3 b for energizing both the base chassis 110 and loadingchassis 120 so as to make them engage with each other. The loadingchassis 110 holds a cartridge 100 inserted into an inlet of thecartridge recording/reproducing apparatus and loads it at, or unloads itfrom, a predetermined recording/reproducing position. The base chassis120 restricts the position of the cartridge 100 in the front/back,right/left and up/down directions as viewed in FIG. 12, at a loadingposition to which the loading chassis 110 was moved.

The cartridge 100 accommodates a storage medium (disk) and has tworeference holes 102 at adjacent front corners as viewed in FIG. 12.These reference holes 102 are formed on the bottom side of the cartridgeas concaves with bottoms. The hole 102 a is a circle hole, and the hole102 b is an elongated hole with arc sides.

The loading chassis 110 is mounted in a main frame (not shown) of thecartridge recording/reproducing apparatus as described above and hassupport shafts 114 a and 114 b extending from opposite sides. A lift(not shown) for raising/lowering the loading chassis 110 in the mainframe is coupled to the support shafts 114 a and 114 b. As the loadingchassis 110 is raised in the main frame, it takes a positioncorresponding to the inlet (not shown) into which the cartridge 100 isinserted. The loading chassis 110 is provided with spring hooks 16 a and16 b projecting from the left side and rear side of the loading chassis110.

The base chassis 120 is fixed to the bottom of the cartridgerecording/reproducing apparatus and positioned under the loading chassis110 spaced by a predetermined distance therefrom. The base chassis 120made of a thin plate has opposite side walls 121 a and 121 b generallybent at a right angle. The side walls 121 a and 121 b have guides 124 aand 124 b formed generally at the center portions thereof, the guidesmaking the support shafts 114 a and 114 b of the loading chassis 110 beguided and fitted therein. Similar to the loading chassis 110, the basechassis 120 has spring hooks 126 a and 126 b projecting from the leftside and rear side of the base chassis 120. On the surface of the basechassis 120, projected back reference planes 122 a and 122 b andprojected front reference planes 122 b and 122 d are formed. Of these,the projected front reference planes 122 a and 122 c have narrowpositioning pins 128 a and 128 c extending upward from the uppersurfaces of the planes 122 a and 122 c.

The front reference planes 122 a and 122 c are slightly higher than theback reference planes 122 b and 122 d. A height difference between thefront reference planes 122 a and 122 c and the back reference planes 122b and 122 d is set to about 0.5 mm. This is because a dimensionaltolerance (allowable distortion) of the surface of an ordinary cartridgeis in a range of 0.3 mm or smaller, and if this allowable error iscovered, the cartridge can be set reliably.

The spring hooks 116 a and 116 b of the loading chassis 110 and thespring hooks 126 a and 126 b of the base chassis 120 are coupledtogether by the elastic members 3 a and 3 b and are energized by theelastic members 3 a and 3 b. Therefore, the elastic members 3 a and 3 balways energize the loading chassis 110 down to the base chassis 120.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13C, the operation of theconventional cartridge chucking apparatus constructed as above will bedescribed. As shown in FIG. 13A, the cartridge 100 is inserted into theinlet of the cartridge recording/reproducing apparatus and accommodatedin the loading chassis 110. At this time, the loading chassis 90 is atthe raised position, with their support shafts 84 being held by thelift. As the cartridge 100 is inserted into the loading chassis 110,this insertion state is detected with a detector (not shown) and thelift is driven to lower the loading chassis 110.

In this case, the loading chassis 110 is lowered while being maintainedhorizontally, because the support shafts 114 a and 114 b are held by thelift at the centers of the loading chassis 110 which is energized by theelastic members 3 a and 3 b at opposite ends thereof, as shown in FIG.13B.

As the loading chassis 100 is lowered horizontally by the lift, as shownin FIG. 13C the back reference planes 122 b and 122 d higher than thefront reference planes 122 a and 122 c abut upon the back surface of thecartridge 100, before the positioning pins 128 are inserted into thereference holes 102 or before they are inserted into the reference holes102 and a load is applied thereto. Therefore, because of the leverprinciple using the back reference planes 122 b and 122 d as fulcrumpoints and the positioning pins 128 as the load points, the cartridge100 can be set reliably to the predetermined recording/reproducingposition, without any suspension of the cartridge 100 at theintermediate points of the positioning pins 128 or inclination of thecartridge 100.

As described above, the conventional cartridge chucking apparatusrestricts the position of a cartridge in the front/back, right/left andup/down directions, by effectively utilizing the reference planes forrestricting the position in a height direction (up/down direction), thepositioning pins for restricting the position in the front/back andright/left directions by inserting them into the cartridge referenceholes, and the elastic members for energizing the loading chassis andbase chassis in the height direction.

With the conventional cartridge chucking apparatus, the cartridge abutsupon the back side (back reference planes) of the base chassis fortemporary position alignment. Therefore, if the cartridge temporarilyaligned in position is shifted (shift in front/back and right/leftdirection, rotation and the like) by external shocks such as vibrations,it becomes difficult for the positioning pins to be inserted into thereference holes, and also the position alignment precision and itsreliability of the cartridge change with the operation performance ofthe lift.

Furthermore, with the conventional cartridge chucking apparatus, twopositioning pins are inserted into the two reference holes (circle holeand elongated hole) at the same time by one operation. Therefore, if,for example, the positioning pin is inserted into the circle hole fasterthan the elongated hole, because of external shocks such as vibrations,the cartridge is fixed and becomes hard to be moved because of thefriction of the inserted pin with the hole, and in addition, theposition of the circle hole is displaced and the positioning pin becomesdifficult to be inserted.

Still further, with the conventional cartridge chucking apparatus, thecartridge is supported at four positions including two front referenceplanes and two back planes, or two right reference planes and two leftreference planes. Therefore, the abut surface of a cartridge is requiredto have high flatness. If the abut surface is uneven, the heightreference may be made slanted when the position is restricted so thatthe cartridge is set with some play or a spindle motor and the like forrotating a disk is required to have a high rotation precision and a highdeviation precision.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-describedproblems and provide a chucking apparatus capable of correctly andstably restricting the position of a cartridge and improving areliability and precision of position alignment.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present inventionprovides a chucking apparatus for loading/unloading a cartridgeaccommodating a storage medium into/from a recording/reproducingapparatus, the cartridge having a circle hole and an elongate hole asreference holes in front and rear along an insertion direction of thecartridge, the reference holes restricting a position in horizontaldirection of the cartridge, the chucking apparatus comprising: a loadingchassis disposed in the recording/reproducing apparatus, the loadingchassis including projections in contact with upper surface of thecartridge for holding the cartridge and for restricting a position inheight direction of the cartridge and support members projecting fromopposite sides of the loading chassis and supported by a liftingmechanism; a base chassis disposed in the recording/reproducingapparatus, the base chassis including reference planes in contact withbottom surfaces of the cartridge including the reference holes at apredetermined recording/reproducing position to which the loadingchassis is moved, to squeeze the cartridge with the projections andrestrict the position in height direction of the cartridge, andpositioning pins projecting from surfaces of the reference planes forentering the reference holes and having in contact with the bottomsurfaces of the reference holes to restrict the position in horizontaldirection of the cartridge; and a loading mechanism adapted to insertthe positioning pin into the circle hole and thereafter insert the otherpositioning pin into the elongated hole.

Preferably, the chucking apparatus further comprises elastic membersengaged between the loading chassis and the base chassis, wherein theloading mechanism is arranged so that the positioning pin is firstinserted into the circle hole and thereafter the other positioning pinis inserted into the elongated hole owing to the balance of the elasticmember in front and rear of the support member as a fulcrum.

It is preferable to use a coil spring as the elastic member.

Further, as a preferable embodiment, the loading chassis includes aplurality of support members disposed in front and rear along theinsertion direction and the loading mechanism has a slider having aguide groove for determining the position in height direction of thesupport member when loading engaged with the support member.

And, the guide groove of the slider consists of a slope groove part andupper and lower horizontal groove parts sandwiching the slope groovepart, and the guide groove is arranged so that the support member at thecircle hole side of the loading chassis moves to the slope groove partof the guide groove prior to the movement of the support member at theelongated hole side when the cartridge moves from the insertion positionto the reproduction position.

And also, the guide groove consists of a slope groove part and upper andlower horizontal glove parts sandwiching the slope groove part, and anangle of the slope groove part of the guide groove with respect to ahorizontal plane is set us so that an angle of the slope at the circlehole side is larger than an angle of the slope at the elongated hole.

The present invention provides a chucking method for loading a cartridgeaccommodating a storage medium into a recording/reproducing apparatus,the cartridge having a circle hole an elongate hole as reference holesin front and rear along an insertion direction of the cartridge, thereference holes restricting a position in horizontal direction of thecartridge, the chucking method comprising the steps of: inserting thecartridge into a loading chassis positioned in a horizontal plane;causing the loading chassis holding the cartridge to move to a positionfor recording/reproducing so obliquely that the circle hole side of thecartridge becomes lower than the longate hole thereof; and positioninghorizontally the loading chassis holding the cartridge in the positionfor recording/reproducing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cartridge chucking apparatus adaptedto an MD recording/reproducing apparatus, according to a firstembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as viewed along an arrow A direction.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the loadingchassis shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of the loadingchassis shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cartridge chucking apparatus adaptedto an MD recording/reproducing apparatus, according to a secondembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams illustrating the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus shown in FIG. 5 as viewed along an arrow B direction.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cartridge chucking apparatus adaptedto an MD recording/reproducing apparatus, according to a thirdembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams illustrating the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus shown in FIG. 7 as viewed along an arrow C direction.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the slider shown in FIG. 7, with an adjustedslope angle of a slanted groove.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional cartridge chuckingapparatus.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of thecartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 10 as viewed along an arrow Fdirection.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another example of a conventionalcartridge chucking apparatus.

FIGS. 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating the operation of thecartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 12 as viewed along an arrow Gdirection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of a cartridge chucking apparatus of this invention will bedetailed with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is aperspective view of a cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus, according to a first embodiment of theinvention. FIGS. 2A to 2C are diagrams illustrating the operation of thecartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as viewed along an arrow Adirection, FIG. 1A shows the state that a cartridge is inserted, FIG. 2Bshows the state that a positioning pin 28 c is inserted into a circlehole 2 a, and FIG. 2C shows the state that the cartridge is aligned inposition at a predetermined recording/reproducing position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment of theinvention, is constituted of a loading chassis 10, a base chassis 20 andelastic members 3 a, 3 b and 3 c for energizing both the base chassis 20and loading chassis 10 so as to make them engage with each other. Theloading chassis 10 holds a cartridge 1 inserted into an inlet of an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus (not shown) and loads it at, or unloadsit from, a predetermined recording/reproducing position. The basechassis 20 restricts (chucks) the position of the cartridge 1 in thefront/back, right/left and up/down directions as viewed in FIG. 1, at aloading position to which the loading chassis 10 was moved.

The cartridge 1 accommodates a storage medium (disk) and has tworeference holes 2 disposed side by side on the right side as viewed inFIG. 1. These reference holes 2 are formed on the bottom side of thecartridge as concaves with bottoms. The hole 2 a is a circle hole, andthe hole 2 b is an elongated hole with arc sides.

The loading chassis 10 has support shafts 14 a and 14 b extending fromopposite sides. A lift (not shown) for raising/lowering the loadingchassis 10 in the main frame (not shown) of the MD recording/reproducingapparatus is coupled to the support shafts 14 a and 14 b. The loadingchassis 10 is therefore mounted movably by the lift in the main frame ofthe MD recording/reproducing apparatus. As the loading chassis 10 israised in the main frame, it takes a position corresponding to the inlet(not shown) of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus into which thecartridge 1 is inserted. The loading chassis 10 is provided with springhooks 16 a, 16 b and 16 c projecting from the opposite sides and rearside of the loading chassis 10. There are a plurality of projections 12projecting downward from the inner surface of the loading chassis 10,two right projections 12 b and 12 c and one left projection 12 a.

The base chassis 20 is fixed to the bottom of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus and positioned under the loading chassis10 spaced by a predetermined distance therefrom. The base chassis 20made of a thin plate has opposite side walls 21 a and 21 b generallybent at a right angle. The side walls 21 a and 21 b have guides 24 a and24 b formed generally at the center portions thereof, the guides makingthe support shafts 14 a and 14 b of the loading chassis 10 be guided upand down and fitted therein. Similar to the loading chassis 10, the basechassis 20 has spring hooks 26 a, 26 b and 26 c projecting from the bothopposite sides and rear side of the base chassis 20.

On the surface of the base chassis 20, two projected right referenceplanes 22 b and 22 c and one projected left reference plane 22 a areformed, similar to the projections 22 of the loading chassis 10. Ofthese, the projected right reference planes 22 b and 22 c have narrowpositioning pins 28 b and 28 c extending upward from the upper surfacesof the planes 22 b and 22 c. The right reference planes 22 b and 22 chave the same height as (are flush with) the front reference plane 22 a.

One ends of elastic members 3 a, 3 b and 3 c are connected to the springhooks 16 a, 16 b and 16 c at the both sides and rear side of the loadingchassis 10, and the other ends of the elastic members 3 a, 3 b and 3 care connected to the spring hooks 26 a, 26 b and 26 c of the basechassis 20. The elastic members 3 a and 3 c energize the front portionof the loading chassis 10, whereas the elastic member 3 b energizes theback portion of the loading chassis 10, respectively about the supportshafts 14 a and 14 b. Therefore, as the loading chassis 10 lowers, firstthe positioning pin 28 c is inserted into the front circle hole 2 a ofthe cartridge 1.

In this embodiment, although the cartridge 1 has the circle hole 2 a onthe front side, there is another type of a cartridge which has thecircle hole on the back side. In this case, the elastic members 3 a, 3 band 3 c are adjusted or disposed differently so that the back side(opposite to the inlet) is applied with a larger force to slant thecartridge first on the back side.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C, the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus of the first embodiment constructed as above will bedescribed in detail. As shown in FIG. 2A, the cartridge 1 is insertedinto the inlet of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus andaccommodated in the loading chassis 10. At this time, the loadingchassis 10 is at the raised position, with their support shafts 14 beingheld by the lift. As the cartridge 1 is inserted into the loadingchassis 10, this insertion state is detected with a detector (not shown)and the lift is driven to lower the loading chassis 10.

In this case, as described above, the loading chassis 10 is energized bythe elastic members 3 a and 3 c on one side and by the elastic member 3b on the other side, respectively about the support shafts 14.Therefore, the loading chassis 10 is lowered while being slanted towardthe elastic members 3 a and 3 b side having a larger elastic force androtating about the support shafts 14. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B thepositioning pin 28 c is first inserted into the circle hole 2 a havingan smaller opening area among the two holes of the cartridge 1 formed onthe right side.

Thereafter, as the loading chassis 10 is further lowered by the lift, asshown in FIG. 2C the positioning pin 28 b is inserted into the elongatedhole 2 b, and the bottom surface of the cartridge 1 abuts upon thereference planes 22 a and 22 b to complete the position alignment orrestriction (chucking).

According to the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, theposition of the circle hole 2 a of the cartridge 1 is first restrictedand then the position of the elongated hole 2 b is restricted. Since thecircle hole 2 a is first fixed, it is possible to prevent rotation (ofthe cartridge) about the elongated hole 2 b and prevent any play in theposition alignment. By efficiently utilizing the elastic members 3 a, 3b and 3 c which supplement the lift operation, the position restrictioncan be performed reliably.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, although the support shafts14 a and 14 b are provided symmetrically extending from opposite sides,they may be provided asymmetrically with similar effects being expected.FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the loadingchassis shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating theoperation of the loading chassis shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment ofthe loading chassis shown in FIG. 3, the support shaft 14 b of the firstembodiment is displaced by a distance Y as shown in FIG. 3 and is usedas a support shaft 14 c. The other structures are the same as those ofthe first embodiment, like elements to those shown in FIG. 1 arerepresented by identical reference numerals, and the duplicatedescription is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the loading chassis of this embodiment has supportshafts 14 a and 14 c projecting from the opposite sides. As differentfrom the support shafts 14 a and 14 b shown in FIG. 1, in thisembodiment, the support shaft 14 c is displaced to the back side by adistance Y from the support shaft 14 a as shown in FIG. 3. This distanceY is preferably set to about 5 mm or longer.

Similar to the loading chassis 10 shown in FIG. 1, the loading chassisof this embodiment has spring hooks 16 a, 16 b and 16 c projecting fromthe opposite sides and rear side, and there are a plurality ofprojections 12 projecting downward from the inner surface of the loadingchassis, two right projections 12 c and 12 d and one left projection 12a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the loading chassis of this embodiment slants towardthe elastic members 3 a and 3 c side having a larger elastic force,rotating about line X-X interconnecting the support shafts 14 a and 14c. In this case, since the support shaft 14 c is displaced backward bythe distance Y from the support shaft 14 a, the loading chassis slantsgreatly on the elastic member 3 c side. The circle hole (on the elasticmember 3 c side) of the cartridge 1 accommodated in the loading chassislowers first, then the elastic member 3 a side shown in FIG. 4 lowers,and lastly the elongated hole 2 b (elastic member 3 b side) lowers. Theposition restriction is performed in this manner.

According to the cartridge chucking apparatus of the first embodiment ofthe invention, the position of the circle hole of the cartridge is firstrestricted to prevent rotation of the cartridge. Accordingly, a frictionresistance during the position restriction lowers and the positionrestriction operation can be realized more reliably and smoothly thanconventional techniques.

Furthermore, since a reliable and smooth position restriction operationis possible, a user can set the position of a cartridge at apredetermined recording/reproducing position by merely inserting acartridge. It is possible to prevent a position restriction error to becaused by suspension of a cartridge at the intermediate points of thepositioning pins or inclination of the cartridge, and reliably set thecartridge at the predetermined recording/reproducing position.

Still further, it is not necessary to restrict the positions of tworeference holes at the same time by one operation as in conventionaltechniques. It is possible to sequentially restrict (chuck) thepositions of the circle hole and elongate hole with smaller force. Thecartridge 1 is fixed by being squeezed between the reference planes 22a, 22 b and 22 c of the base chassis and the projections 12 a, 12 b and12 c of the loading chassis 10 and also energized by the elastic members3 a, 3 b and 3 c. Therefore, a position restriction state without anydimensional play can be realized.

Next, a cartridge chucking apparatus according to the second embodimentof this invention will be detailed with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is aperspective view of the cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus, according to the second embodiment ofthe invention. FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams illustrating the operation ofthe cartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 5 as viewed along anarrow B direction, FIG. 6A shows the state that a cartridge is inserted,FIG. 6B shows the state that a positioning pin 48 c is inserted into acircle hole 2 a, and FIG. 6C shows the state that the cartridge isaligned in position at a predetermined recording/reproducing position.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment ofthe invention, is constituted of a loading chassis 30, a base chassis 40and elastic members 3 a and 3 b for energizing both the base chassis 40and loading chassis 30 so as to make them engage with each other. Theloading chassis 30 holds a cartridge 1 inserted into an inlet of an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus (not shown) and loads it at, or unloadsit from, a predetermined recording/reproducing position. The basechassis 40 restricts (chucks) the position of the cartridge 1 in thefront/back, right/left and up/down directions as viewed in FIG. 5, at aloading position to which the loading chassis 30 was moved.

The cartridge 1 accommodates a storage medium (disk) and has tworeference holes 2 disposed side by side on the right side as viewed inFIG. 5. These reference holes 2 are formed on the bottom side of thecartridge as concaves with bottoms. The hole 2 a is a circle hole, andthe hole 2 b is an elongated hole with arc sides.

The loading chassis 30 has support shafts 34 a and 34 b extending fromopposite sides. As different from the first embodiment, the supportshafts 34 a and 34 b are shifted to the back side from the centers ofthe loading chassis 30. A lift (not shown) for raising/lowering theloading chassis 30 in the main frame (not shown) of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus is coupled to the support shafts 34 aand 34 b. The loading chassis 30 is therefore mounted movably by thelift in the main frame of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus. As theloading chassis 30 is raised in the main frame, it takes a positioncorresponding to the inlet (not shown) of the MD recording/reproducingapparatus into which the cartridge 1 is inserted.

The loading chassis 30 is provided with spring hooks 36 a and 36 bprojecting from the left side and rear side of the loading chassis 30.There are a plurality of projections 32 projecting downward from theinner surface of the loading chassis 30, two right projections 32 b and32 c and one left projection 32 a.

The base chassis 40 is fixed to the bottom of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus and positioned under the loading chassis30 spaced by a predetermined distance therefrom. The base chassis 40made of a thin plate has opposite side walls 41 a and 41 b generallybent at a right angle. The side walls 41 a and 41 b have guides 44 a and44 b formed generally at the back portions thereof, the guides makingthe support shafts 34 a and 34 b of the loading chassis 30 be guided andfitted therein. Similar to the loading chassis 30, the base chassis 40has spring hooks 46 a and 46 b projecting from the left side and rearside of the base chassis 40.

On the surface of the base chassis 40, two projected right referenceplanes 42 b and 42 c and one projected left reference plane 22 a areformed, similar to the projections 32 of the loading chassis 30. Ofthese, the projected right reference planes 42 b and 42 c have narrowpositioning pins 48 b and 48 c extending upward from the upper surfacesof the planes 42 b and 42 c. The right reference planes 42 b and 42 chave the same height as (are flush with) the front reference plane 42 a.

One ends of elastic members 3 a and 3 b are connected to the springhooks 46 a and 46 b at the left. side and rear side of the loadingchassis 30, and the other ends of the elastic members 3 and 3 b areconnected to the spring hooks 46 a and 46 b of the base chassis 40. Theelastic member 3 a energizes the front portion of the loading chassis30, whereas the elastic member 3 b energizes the back portion of theloading chassis 30, respectively about the support shafts 34 a and 34 b.Since the support shafts 34 a and 34 b of the loading chassis 30 areshifted to the back side from the center, the lever ratio changes andthe front portion of the loading chassis 30 on the elastic member 3 aside first flowers.

In this embodiment, although the cartridge 1 shown in FIG. 5 has thecircle hole 2 a on the front side, there is another type of a cartridgewhich has the circle hole on the back side. In this case, the guides 44a and 44 b and support shafts 34 a and 34 b are formed on the frontside.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6C, the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus of the second embodiment constructed as above will bedescribed in detail. As shown in FIG. 6A, the cartridge 1 is insertedinto the inlet of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus andaccommodated in the loading chassis 30. At this time, the loadingchassis 30 is at the raised position, with their support shafts 34 beingheld by the lift. As the cartridge 1 is inserted into the loadingchassis 30, this insertion state is detected with a detector (not shown)and the lift is driven to lower the loading chassis 30.

In this case, as described above, the loading chassis 30 is energized bythe elastic members 3 a and 3 c, with the support shafts 34 beingshifted to the back side from the center. Therefore, as shown in FIG.6B, the loading chassis 30 is lowered while being slanted toward theelastic member 3 a side having a longer distance to the support shaft34. Therefore, the positioning pin 48 c is first inserted into thecircle hole 2 a having an smaller opening area among the two referenceholes 2 of the cartridge 1 formed on the right side, similar to theloading chassis shown in FIG. 1.

Thereafter, as the loading chassis 30 is further lowered by the lift, asshown in FIG. 6C the positioning pin 48 b is inserted into the elongatedhole 2 b, and the bottom surface of the cartridge 1 abuts upon thereference planes 42 to complete the position alignment or restriction(chucking).

According to the second embodiment of the cartridge chucking apparatus,the positioning pin 48 c is first inserted into the circle hole 2 a whenthe cartridge 1 is aligned in position, similar to the first embodiment.Similar effects of the first embodiment can therefore be obtained.Furthermore, since one elastic member can be omitted, the number ofcomponents can be reduced.

Next, a cartridge chucking apparatus according to the third embodimentof this invention will be detailed with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is aperspective view of the cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus, according to the third embodiment ofthe invention. FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams illustrating the operation ofthe cartridge chucking apparatus shown in FIG. 7 as viewed along anarrow C direction, FIG. 8A shows the state that a cartridge is inserted,FIG. 8B shows the state that a positioning pin 62 c is inserted into acircle hole 2 a, and FIG. 8C shows the state that the cartridge isaligned in position at a predetermined recording/reproducing position.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cartridge chucking apparatus adapted to an MDrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the third embodiment of theinvention, is constituted of a loading chassis 50, a base chassis 60 andsliders 70 a and 70 b. The loading chassis 50 holds a cartridge 1inserted into an inlet of an MD recording/reproducing apparatus (notshown) and loads it at, or unloads it from, a predeterminedrecording/reproducing position. The base chassis 60 restricts (chucks)the position of the cartridge 1 in the front/back, right/left andup/down directions as viewed in FIG. 7, at a loading position to whichthe loading chassis 50 was moved. The sliders 70 a and 70 b are moved bya driver (not shown) and guides the loading chassis 50 to apredetermined recording/reproducing position of the base chassis 50.

The cartridge 1 accommodates a storage medium (disk) and has tworeference holes 2 disposed side by side on the right side as viewed inFIG. 7. These reference holes 2 are formed on the bottom side of thecartridge as concaves with bottoms. The hole 2 a is a circle hole, andthe hole 2 b is an elongated hole with arc sides.

The loading chassis 50 is mounted movably in the main frame of the MDapparatus, and has support shafts 54 a, 54 b, 54 c and 34 d extendingfrom opposite sides, as different from the first and second embodiments.As the loading chassis 50 is raised in the main frame, it takes theposition near at the inlet (not shown) of the MD recording/reproducingapparatus in which the cartridge 1 is inserted. There are a plurality ofprojections 52 projecting downward from the inner surface of the loadingchassis 50, two right projections 52 b and 52 c and one left projection52 a.

The base chassis 60 is fixed to the bottom of the MDrecording/reproducing apparatus and positioned under the loading chassis50 spaced by a predetermined distance therefrom. The base chassis 60made of a thin plate has opposite side walls 61 a and 61 b generallybent at a right angle. The side walls 61 a and 61 b have guides 64 a, 64b, 64 c and 64 d for making the support shafts 54 of the loading chassis50 be guided up and down and fitted therein.

On the surface of the base chassis 60, two projected right referenceplanes 62 b and 62 c and one projected left reference plane 62 a areformed, similar to the projections 52 of the loading chassis 50. Ofthese, the projected right reference planes 62 b and 62 c have narrowpositioning pins 68 b and 68 c extending upward from the upper surfacesof the planes 62 b and 62 c. The right reference planes 62 b and 62 chave the same height as (are flush with) the front reference plane 62 a.

The loading chassis 50 has the sliders 70 a and 70 b made of arectangular thin plate which support the loading chassis 50 by insertingthe four support shafts 54 projecting at both sides into front and backguide grooves 72 and 74 formed in the sliders 70 a and 70 b. The sliders70 are made movable back and forth by a driver (not shown) alongopposite sides of the loading chassis 50. The front and back guidegrooves 72 and 74 are constituted of upper horizontal grooves 72 a and74 a, lower horizontal grooves 72 c and 74 c, and slanted grooves 72 band 74 a having a predetermined slope angle and interconnecting theupper and lower horizontal grooves.

The length L₁ of the upper groove 74 a of the back guide groove 74 isset longer than the length L₂ of the upper groove 72 a of the frontguide groove 72. As the sliders 70 move back and forth, the supportshafts 54 of the loading chassis 50 are guided by the front and backguide grooves 72 and 74 so that the loading chassis 50 can be moved tothe predetermined recording/reproducing position of the base chassis 60,similar to the first and second embodiments.

Although the cartridge 1 shown in FIG. 7 has the circle hole 2 a on thefront side, there is another type of a cartridge which has the circlehole on the back side. In this case, the front and back guide grooves 72and 74 of the slider 70 are reversed (the lengths L₁ and L₂ arereversed).

In this embodiment, although the slope angles of the slanted grooves 72b and 74 b of the front and back guide grooves 72 of the slider 70 arethe same, the slope angles of the slanted grooves may be made differentto realize a smoother position restriction operation. FIG. 9 is a frontview of a slider 70 having different slope angles of the slanted grooves72 b and 74 b.

As shown in FIG. 9, the slider 70 has a slope angle D of the slantedgroove 72 b and a slope angle E of the slanted groove 74 b, the slopeangles D and E being set different with the slope angle D being largerthen the slope angle E. The support shaft 54 (refer to FIG. 7) insertedinto the upper groove 72 a lowers to the lower groove 72 c via theslanted groove 72 b having the steep slope angle D in a shorter time,whereas the support shaft 54 inserted into the upper groove 74 a lowersto the lower groove 74 c via the slanted groove 74 b having the gentlesteep slope angle E in a longer time. With the lengths L₁ and L₂ shownin FIG. 7 and the different slope angles D and E shown in FIG. 9 beingset to the slider 70, a smoother position restriction operation becomespossible.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C, the operation of the cartridgechucking apparatus of the third embodiment constructed as above will bedescribed in detail. As shown in FIG. 8A, the cartridge 1 is insertedinto the inlet of the MD recording/reproducing apparatus andaccommodated in the loading chassis 50. At this time, the loadingchassis 50 is at the raised position, with their support shafts 54 beingheld by the sliders 70. As the cartridge 1 is inserted into the loadingchassis 50, this insertion state is detected with a detector (not shown)and the sliders are driven and moved along an arrow direction shown inFIG. 8A. The loading chassis 50 is moves downward being guided by thefront and back guide grooves 72 and 74 of the sliders 70.

As described above, the front and back guide grooves 72 and 74 of thesliders 70 has the upper grooves 72 a and 74 a having different lengths.The shafts 54 c and 54 d inserted into the upper grooves 72 a having theshorter length L₂ lowers along the slanted grooves 72 b faster than theback support shafts 54 a and 54 b, as shown in FIG. 8B. Therefore,similar to the loading chassis shown in FIG. 1, the positioning pin 68 cis first inserted into the circle hole 2 a having an smaller openingarea.

Thereafter, as the loading chassis 50 is further lowered by the sliders70, as shown in FIG. 8C the positioning pin 68 b is inserted into theelongated hole 2 b, and the bottom surface of the cartridge 1 abuts uponthe reference planes 62 to complete the position restriction.

According to the third embodiment of the cartridge chucking apparatus ofthis invention, the positioning pin 68 c is first inserted into thecircle hole 2 a when the cartridge 1 is aligned in position. Similareffects of the first and second embodiments can therefore be obtained.Furthermore, since the raising/lowering operation of the loading chassiscan be set freely by changing the shape of the guide grooves of thesliders into which the support shafts are inserted, the structure ofcomponents can be simplified and the manufacture cost can be reduced.

The invention has been described in connection with the above preferredembodiments of the cartridge chucking apparatus. The invention is notlimited only to the above embodiments, but various modification arepossible without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

For example, in the third embodiment, although the four support shafts54 a, 54 b, 54 c and 54 d protruding from the sides of the loadingchassis 50 and supported by the sliders 70 are used, the support shaft54 a or 54 b not on the side of the positioning pins 68 b and 68 c maybe omitted to support the loading chassis by three support shafts.

As described so far, according to the cartridge chucking apparatus ofthis invention, the positioning pin is first inserted into the circlehole of the cartridge, and then the other positioning pin is insertedinto the elongated hole. Accordingly, the position restriction operationcan be performed reliably with a small force, a high reliability andprecision of the position restriction can be obtained with a simplestructure, and the manufacture cost can be reduced.

Further, according to the cartridge chucking apparatus of thisinvention, the positioning pins are inserted into the circle andelongated holes at different timings. Accordingly, a positionrestriction structure easy to be used by a user can be realized, and itis possible to prevent a loading error such as a cartridge float and acartridge shift.

Still further, according to the cartridge chucking apparatus of thisinvention, the cartridge is are supported and squeezed at least at threepositions by the reference planes and projections. Accordingly, theposition in the height direction can be reliably restricted, and avariation in flatness of cartridges can be covered at a larger degree offreedom than the conventional structure of supporting the cartridge atfour positions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chucking apparatus for loading/unloading acartridge accommodating a storage medium into/from arecording/reproducing apparatus, the cartridge having a circle hole andan elongate hole as reference holes in front and rear along an insertiondirection of the cartridge, the reference holes restricting a positionin horizontal direction of the cartridge, the chucking apparatuscomprising: a loading chassis disposed in the recording/reproducingapparatus, the loading chassis including projections in contact with anupper surface of the cartridge for holding the cartridge and forrestricting a position in height direction of the cartridge and supportmembers projecting from opposite sides of the loading chassis andsupported by a lifting mechanism; a base chassis disposed in therecording/reproducing apparatus, the base chassis including referenceplanes in contact with bottom surfaces of the cartridge including thereference holes at a predetermined recording/reproducing position towhich the loading chassis is moved, to squeeze the cartridge with theprojections and restrict the position in height direction of thecartridge and positioning pins projecting from surfaces of the referenceplanes for entering the reference holes and having in contact with thebottom surfaces of the reference holes to restrict the position inhorizontal direction of the cartridge; and a loading mechanism adaptedto insert a first one of said positioning pins into the circle hole andthereafter insert a second one of said positioning pins into theelongated hole.
 2. The chucking apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprises elastic members engaged between the loading chassis and thebase chassis, wherein the loading mechanism is arranged so that thepositioning pin is first inserted into the circle hole and thereafterthe other positioning pin is inserted into the elongated hole byadjusting the balance of the elastic members in front and rear of thesupport members as fulcrums.
 3. The chucking apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein a coil spring is used as the elastic member.
 4. Thechucking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprises elasticmembers engaged between the loading chassis and the base chassis,wherein the loading mechanism is arranged so that the positioning pin isfirst inserted into the circle hole and thereafter the other positioningpin is inserted into the elongated hole by offsetting a fulcrum of atleast either one of the support members from a center of gravity of theloading chassis.
 5. The chucking apparats according to claim 1, whereinthe loading chassis includes a plurality of support members disposed infront and rear along the insertion direction and the loading mechanismhas a slider having a guide groove for determining a position in aheight direction of the support member when loading engaged with thesupport member.
 6. The chucking apparatus according to claim 5, whereinsaid guide groove is one of a plurality of guide grooves, wherein eachof said guide grooves of the slider consists of a slope groove part andupper and lower horizontal groove parts sandwiching the slope groovepart, and a first one of said guide grooves is arranged so that a firstone of said support members at a circle hole side of the loading chassismoves to the slope groove part of said first one of guide grooves priorto a movement of the support member at an elongated hole side to theslope groove part of a second one of said guide grooves when thecartridge moves from an insertion position to a reproduction position.7. The chucking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each guidegroove consists of a slope groove part and upper and lower horizontalgroove parts sandwiching the slope groove part, and an angle of theslope groove part of each guide groove with respect to a horizontalplane is set up so that an angle of the slope of said first one of saidguide grooves at the circle hole side is larger than an angle of theslope of said second one of said guide grooves at the elongated hole. 8.The chucking apparatus according to any of claim 5-7, wherein the slideris driven in a forth and back direction by a predetermined drivingmeans.
 9. The chucking apparatus according to any of claims 1-7, whereinthe base chassis has three reference planes restricting a position ofsaid cartridge in height direction on the base chassis.